The first step to going to Heaven is to receive the gift of Salvation…which is received by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and by repenting of one’s past and present sins.
For more on receiving the gift of Salvation, see these articles:
Next, after receiving the gift of Salvation by believing and repenting, one should seek to grow and develop in their relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
That is, one should first pray that the Lord sanctify them…sanctification being the work where the Lord changes one’s interests, desires, activities, agenda, and direction…the transformation from “forgiven and saved sinner” to “saint of God”.
After sanctification, one should then pray to receive the Holy Ghost.
After receiving the Holy Ghost, one should pray to receive the Gifts of the Spirit that God has for them.
For more on this spiritual development process, see this article:
Up to this point, I have been speaking about the “spiritual” aspect of going to Heaven.
But, there is another aspect. In addition to the “spiritual” aspect of going to Heaven, there is also the “natural” aspect of going to Heaven.
What is the “natural” aspect?
It is the way a saved Christian LIVES their life and CONDUCTS their self.
In short, the proper Christian way to live and conduct one’s self is to no longer live a life of sinfulness and to instead live a life of righteousness that is pleasing before God.
That makes sense…but at the same time, that is a bit ambiguous…so let’s clarify these two items:
1. What do we stop doing so that we are no longer sinning?
And…
2. What do we do to live righteous and pleasing before God?
Well, the answers to these two questions are spread across the entire Bible…repeated many times in many different ways…so that EVERYBODY can completely and clearly understand EXACTLY what it is that God wants and expects from them.
Obviously, this is one of the reasons why regular Bible reading is so important.
But for here and now…to get us started and moving forward rightly…let’s simplify to a couple of places where the Bible summarizes God’s behavioral rules for us.
In terms of what we should NOT do, Galatians 5:19-21 tells us the following:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
In terms of what we SHOULD do, Psalm 15:1-5 tells us the following:
LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
So, there you go…if you want to go to Heaven, you now have two lists that describe how to LIVE and CONDUCT yourself…you now have a specific list of things to NOT do…and a specific list of things to do.
Abide by these scriptures in the “natural” aspect of your life…and seek a deeper relationship with God in the “spiritual” aspect of your life…and you WILL INFALLIBLY make Heaven your eternal home.